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Monday June 4, 2012UF's Mike Zunino Named Finalist For Johnny Bench Award For Second-Straight Year

Florida
junior Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) was named one of the three
finalists for the 2012 Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com
announced on Monday. In becoming a finalist for the second year in a row, the
Gator standout joins junior Mitchell Garver of New Mexico and junior Kevin
Plawecki of Purdue vying for the prize presented to the nationís top
catcher.

A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World
Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita, Kan., and the winner will be
announced at the 15th Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 28.

A first-team Louisville Slugger All-American
who is also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden
Spikes Award, Zunino leads the Gators in total bases (154), RBI (60), doubles
(27), homers (18), sacrifice flies (9) and slugging percentage (.667). A
two-time first-team All-SEC recipient and two-time member of the leagueís
All-Defensive Team who is hitting .316, he has registered a .994 fielding
percentage, with three errors in 474 chances, and has thrown out almost a third
of the runners who have attempted to steal on him.

Over the weekend, Zunino was voted to the
NCAA Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team for the third-consecutive season
after belting homers in consecutive games against No. 24 Georgia Tech as the top-ranked
Gators (45-18) advanced to Super Regionals for the fourth-straight campaign.

†

Johnny
Benchís career honors include: National League Rookie of the Year (1968);
National League Most Valuable Player (1970, 1972); World Series Most Valuable
Player (1976); 14-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner. In 1980, he set
an endurance record by catching 100+ games for 13-consecutive seasons. Bench
was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in January 1989 with the fourth-highest
percentage of total votes cast.